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Neighborhood Poverty, Social Capital, and the Cognitive Development of African American Preschoolers

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American Journal of Community Psychology

In this investigation, we examine the impact of the ecological context of the residential neighborhood on the cognitive development of children by considering social processes not only at the family-level but also at the neighborhood-level. In a socioeconomically diverse sample of 200 African American children living in 39 neighborhoods in Baltimore, we found that neighborhood poverty was associated with poorer problem-solving skills over and above the influence of family economic resources and level of positive parent involvement. Sampson has theorized that neighborhood poverty affects child well-being by altering levels of neighborhood social capital as well as family social capital. Although we found that indicators of neighborhood and family social capital were associated with cognitive skills, these factors did not explain the association between neighborhood poverty and problem-solving ability. Implications for future research in the area of neighborhoods and child development are discussed.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by grant #MCJ-240731-01-1 from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. The authors would like to thank Deborah Brothers and Bennette Drummond-Fitzgerald for conducting interviews, and Kimberly Lohrfink for providing project management. Data management and analysis support was expertly provided by Yi Hua Chen, Crystal Evans, Patricia Gwayi-Chore, and Li Ching Lee. Finally, we would like to thank the families who so graciously welcomed us into their homes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas School of Public Health, Dallas, Texas, USA

    Margaret O'Brien Caughy

  2. St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Patricia J. O'Campo

  3. School of Public Health, University of Texas, 6011 Harry Hines Blvd., 8th Floor, Room 112, Dallas, Texas, 75390, USA

    Margaret O'Brien Caughy

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  1. Margaret O'Brien Caughy
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  2. Patricia J. O'Campo
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Correspondence to Margaret O'Brien Caughy.

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Caughy, M.O., O'Campo, P.J. Neighborhood Poverty, Social Capital, and the Cognitive Development of African American Preschoolers. Am J Community Psychol 37, 141–154 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-005-9001-8

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